Procedural
Background

Often when someone experiences a heart attack or chronic chest pain it is due to a blockage of one or more arteries in their heart. Many patients will undergo a procedure called a "percutaneous coronary intervention", or PCI for short, to open up the blockages. A physician will treat the affected arteries by accessing the arterial system through the patient's leg, collar bone area, or even their arm, carefully inserting a catheter and navigating it until it reaches the affected area.​

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Due to several factors including severity of illness, condition of the heart, and age, some patients might be at risk for their heart not being able to pump enough blood during a PCI procedure. Catheter-based blood pumps have been shown to be effective for such patients during a PCI procedure by providing pumping assistance to the heart and therefore allowing the heart to not work as hard.